PARIS, July 8 - France’s competition authority on Wednesday ordered Meta Platforms to restart negotiations with French media organisations concerning payments for publishing content on its platforms, after talks previously collapsed and publishers lodged complaints.
The regulator concluded that the approaches Meta used to calculate the fees it proposed were likely to amount to an abuse of a dominant position. As a result, it required the Facebook owner to submit the specifics of a payment plan within 15 days.
The dispute sits within a broader pattern of litigation between publishers and technology companies over how content published on social media is used, including material that may be accessed for AI training. The French authority framed its intervention around the mechanics of the fee negotiation rather than an outright refusal to talk.
A prior arrangement between Meta and press associations DVP and APIG - organisations whose membership includes national titles such as Les Echos and Le Monde - expired in 2024. Following that expiry, the two sides failed to reach agreement on the sum due, and French media have not received payments since.
Benoit Coeure, president of the antitrust authority, told reporters that the issue was not a flat refusal to negotiate. He said: "We are not dealing with a situation where there is a refusal to negotiate. Rather, the negotiation is taking place under conditions where there is a refusal to consider an alternative methodology or to share the data required for that alternative methodology."
The authority’s action invokes the European Union concept of "neighbouring rights," which permits print media outlets to seek remuneration for digital uses of their content. Within that legal framework, the regulator has focused on whether the methodology Meta employed to set fees and the related data practices were compatible with fair negotiation between the parties.
The case is one among a growing number of conflicts across jurisdictions in which publishers press technology platforms over compensation tied to the digital distribution of journalistic content and its derivative uses. The French regulator’s order compels Meta to provide a detailed proposal in a compressed timetable, setting the stage for renewed discussions under regulatory oversight.
Context and next steps
The regulator’s demand for a payment plan within 15 days imposes a clear deadline on Meta to disclose the mechanics of its offer. The parties remain at odds on methodology and access to underlying data, which the antitrust authority identified as central obstacles in reaching an agreement since the 2024 contract lapse.